Texas Stars take a hit during opening days of free agency
By Brian Sweet
We have a big issue right now and it’s not with the Dallas Stars. The issue is with their AHL affiliate the Texas Stars down in Cedar Park. For the first time in a while, they lost a bunch of their players from last season to other teams during the first few days of free agency.
Players like Riley Tufte and Ben Gleason are leaving the Stars for other organizations to continue their hockey careers. Let’s take a look at some of the players that are leaving the organization and what this means for the Texas Stars moving forward as they prepare for the 2023-24 season in the fall.
Texas Stars Departures: Who’s leaving?
There are some big names that are leaving the Texas Stars. Riley Tufte, Ryan Shea, Rhett Gardner, Marian Studenic, Ben Gleason and Will Butcher are all leaving the Texas Stars. Two of the biggest head-scratchers that I’m surprised didn’t get re-signed are Marian Studenic and Riley Tufte.
Both of them were really good for the Texas Stars last season. Tufte had the size of a checking line player and could have filled in on the fourth line for Joel Kiviranta next season. Studenic really had some good speed but just could never finish his shot. I guess Dallas Stars General Manager Jim Nill wanted to make room for some of the top prospects that outgrew junior hockey or European clubs last season.
Texas Stars Departures: Why it’s significant
The main reason why it’s significant is that’s six players leaving an AHL club. That’s a good chunk of the roster and you will need to replace all of those players that decided to leave. Dallas Stars General Manager Jim Nill will probably replace them with AHL veterans or Dallas Stars’ prospects that have outgrown junior hockey in Canada or their European clubs.
Texas Stars Departures: Why not worry about this
This happens all the time with hockey prospects that don’t rise to the expectations of their club. Tufte was up there in age and I guess it was time to let him go and see if another team would give him a chance.
Texas Stars Neil Graham and his staff have done a good job with the prospects and should do an excellent job next season as well. The Texas Stars have a good shot at returning to the Calder Cup Playoffs and making a deep run. The AHL team is in good shape as they are about to celebrate their 15th anniversary of being in Cedar Park next season.